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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Historic Art Young Letter Found

Historic Art Young Letter Found

While going through my father's things, I found a letter from the famous (or infamous, however one may view him) Art Young to my grandmother, dated April 7, 1937. He and my grandmother were from the same small town of Monroe, Wisconsin and began corresponding in the 1930's. This letter is one of the first of the series. In it, he mentions my dad's early works. My grandmother had apparently sent sketches my father had done in high school. The letter was folded and tucked into a tattered copy of Art Young's Inferno, a parody of Dante's famous opus. An avid socialist, Mr. Young's book (consistent with many of his political renderings and commentaries) was a scathing commentary on the immoral aspects of unbridled capitalism, and the war machine. He was particularly critical of the military industrialists who garnered enormous wealth from World War I. Regardless of one's opinion regarding Mr. Young's politics, there is no denying the historical significance of the document.

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